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XIII: 6 NOVEMBER - DECEMBER

1964

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EDITORIAL

THE VOICE of the Mennonite Brethren Bible College

The New Curriculum

Voo. XIII ____________~N~OV_e~m~b_e_r_-__D_~ ____ b_er~,_1_9_64_______________N __ o__ • 6 THE VOICE is the publication of the Mennonite Brethren Bible College, published bi-monthly in the interest of sound Christian teachi~g,. and setting forth the doctrinal position of the institution. Printed by The ChrIstIan Press Ltd., 15~ ~ender­ son Hwy .• Winnipeg. Subscription price: $1.00 per year. Send your subscnptlOn to: THE VOICE, 77 Henderson Hwy., Winnipeg 5, Man. Editor: DAVID EWERT No Articles May be Re-printed Without Permission. AutberlJ:ed . . . .cenlS c1... mall, Post 01'tl08 Department, Ottawa. and for payment of postage in cash.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page

EDITORIAL 1

THE NEW CURRICULUM -- H. H. Voth

IN MEMORIAM 4

B. B. JANZ (1877-1964) -- J. A. Toews .......... .

ARTICLES THE NEAR EAST SPEAKS -- J. J. Toews

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WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE -- J. H. Quiring

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A SERMON DAS HEILIGE ABENDMAHL (1. Kor. 11, 23-24) F. C. Peters ................

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BOOK REVIEW THE HOUSE OF CHRISTMAS, by Harold Kent -- H. Giesbrecht...........

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ABRAHAM KUYPER, Frank Vanden Berg -- V. Adrian

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THE EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CONFESSIONS -- D. Ewert ............

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INDEX FOR 1964 (Volume XIII) .............................. .

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In recent t~mes much has been said and written about the New Curriculum published by the United Church for its Christian Education Program. It is quite conceivable that in some way this might have repercussions in our own circles and therefore it might be well for us to be somewhat more familiar with it, in order that we might know what stand we should take to it. What is it? The New Curriculum follows a three year cycle in which the following annual themes are considered: God and His Purpose. Jesus Christ and the Christian Life. The Church and the World. These annual themes are followed in each of the seven departments from nursery to adult. The story of the development of this curriculum reaches back a number of years and includes many persons as writers, involves all of the theological schools of the United Church and over 15,000 people in its testing program. Before the material was printed it went through a rigorous test in a number of typical churches right across Canada. Reactions were tabulated and evaluations solicited. All this preparatory work shows that the material is not the product of a select group, out of touch with the thinking of the main stream of the church, but rather that its theological position has been submitted to the scrutiny of at least a reasonable nu,mber of the rank and file members and is therefore representative of the church. Year one materials were available for use in the churches by September 1, 1964. Reactions to this material within the United Church itself have been varied. The magazine Focus, September - October 1964 issue, and a special pamphlet report some of these. For the most part those reported are approval, varying from mild enthusiasm to unqualified delight. Some have voiced certain reservation about such matters as difficulty of the material, need for intensive study by teachers using the material, amount of material etc. However, there is also another brief statment which deserves our notice. "Some teachers had difficulty ,making the transition from a literal interpretation of Scriptures to a larger view 'whose tl1uth and authority depend not on verbal accuracy but on God who speaks and acts with saving power in Jesus Christ'''. More will be said about this later. The November - December issue of The Christian Railroadier, includes a testimony of a C.P.R. conductor and his wife, who felt they had to withdraw their membership from their church because it was using the New Curriculum. Others instances of similar disagreement could be cited. This then is the curriculum which is before us for some sort of evaluation. We could attempt to evaluate it from the standpoint of the United Church. From that vantage point it seems a tremendous step forward. For one, now at least the theological

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presuppositions which have been current in most of its pulpits for almost 40 years and have been basic to its preaching, have also been ;made basic to its Christian Education program. Whatever we may think about it, this would seem to be an honest and logical course to pursue if persons are going to be subjected to the influence of both the school and the pulpit. One can only guess at the confusion and frustration which result from differing emphases in these two institutions. .. Then also there is more body, more content to thIS curnculum. Some things are made more specific, more definite than they have been heretofore - at least as definite as a church which professes to be a "uniting church" can make them. As one teacher describes it: "Our Easter sessions came as quite a surprise to our junior teachers, accustomed as we were to skirting the crucifixion to talk of springtime and new life. In the New Curriculum the facts of the crucifixion are taught even at the Kindergarten level." There is in this curriculum very little of that sentimental optimism about the natural goodness of man. Sin is real and it was the sin of mankind that brought Jesus to the cross. But speaking of some of these emphases leads us quite naturally to an attempt to evaluate the curriculum from our theological perspective. As one reads through teacher and pupil books one is agreeably surprised to find so much of what we consider orthodox doctrine, included. There is, for instance, a strong and repeated emphasis on God's active guiding and directing influence in the lives of men and nations. There is an equally strong sense of purpose and meaning in life. God is a sovereign God, immanent and yet transcendent. He is the Triune God who " .... acts as the Father in the 'Son and through the Holy Spirit" (God and His Purpose, p. 230). The Incarnation is also given an orthodox emphasis. "As in the beginning he created the human race so in Jesus Christ he himself became man" or "How God could remain God and yet co.me into history in the person of Jesus is something we can never fully comprehend." (Senior student book, p. 172-2) .. In the same .b~ok the resurrection is referred to as "the foundatIOn of the ChnstIan religion" and again, "the preaching of the resurrection remained unchallenged because the facts were above challenge" (p.194). There is, of course, a great deal of uneveness i~ the strength of the conviction with which some of these affirmatIOns are made. This variation in theological conviction is evident among the various writers who have created the curriculum. It would also seem to be right to say that generally speaking the student books contain more definite assertions than the Teachers' guide book do. Take as an example the citations about the resurrection which were made above. The Teachers' Guide Book for this session is much less definite about the literalness of the event, and would seem (at least to this reader) to leave roo,m for a poeticinte:rreta~ion according to which the statement about the resurrectIOn mIght then be considered to be an attempt to preserve the fundamental Hebrew idea of reality (p. 238-9) . In spite of what has been said

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above about an increasing definiteness, there is still a good deal of ambivalence in certain doctrinal statement, and that characteristic vagueness which is so noticable in much of the teaching of the United Church. Especially is this true when it comes to teaching how one becomes a Christian, the Christian life and what the nature of the Christian hope is for the future. One of the most serious defects of this material, from our point of view, is its total approach to Scripture. According to one of the writers "the New Curriculum is based on the assured results of the best of modern biblical scholarship and we have got to be honest about this." (Morgan, Focus, Sept. - Oct., p.21). This means, of course, that certain parts of the Bible are to be taken literally, others as poetic or theological affirmations, the interpretation of which must be sought by the scholar, and others are to be considered as unreliable, contradictory or downright erroneous. Thus is is that the Creation story (which receives a great deal of attention in this curriculum) becomes a theological affir,mation of why God created the world. The story of the Fall (which is hardly mentioned at all, and we know why) becomes a story of "what happenes to everybody when temptation comes". The two Gospel accounts (Matthew and Luke) stating that Jesus was born of a virgin, are either passed over in silence or said to indicate a special involvement of God in this birth, but that in a real sense Jesus is the son of Joseph and Mary. And thus it is that "atonement" and "ransom" must not be taken as indicating that Christ bore the punishment due a rebellious and sinful heart. Instead of putting our faith in a Christ, the incarnate Word of God to whom an infallible, inerrant written Word bears testimony, we are called by this curriculum, to belief in a God and a Christ of whom we learn from a fallible, human book. This book (so they say) speaks in terms of allegory and figures and poetry concerning some of the ;most vital and curcial issues governing our relationship to God. These allegorical, figurative and poetic references must be interpreted for us by competent scholars because they can obviously not (again, so they affirm) mean literally what they say. The trouble is that allegory is hard to pin down to specific meanings and interpretations of the socalled "poetic" affirmations vary from time to time if the past fifty years are any indication. Does not then this New Curriculum build on shifting sand? Lack of space will not permit further evaluation. One cannothelp regretting that some of this otherwise excellent instruction should be so poorly grounded. One also wonders how seriously students of this curriculum will take the Bible and the doctrines which are professedly drawn from it, when it is repeatedly asserted that this is a fallible, human record - inspired in a certain way and yet a mixture of truth and error. No matter how sincere we are, we do not build well unless we have a solid foundation, even if the material we use to build with is excellent. "We have the prophetic word ,made more sure. You will do well to pay attention to this as a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (2 Peter 1:19). H. Voth.

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In Memoriam B. B. JANZ

(1877 - 1964) Glwbensstarkier FUhrer in stwrmbewegter Zeit. Der englische Schriftsteller und Ges'chkhtler Thomas Carlyle hat einmal folgenden Satz gepragt: "Die Geschichte der Welt ist die Geschichte ihrer groBen Pers6nlichkeiten." Obzwar wir ohige Definierung der Geschichte als einseitig bezeichnen miissen, so liegt doch eingroBes Stiick Wahrheit darin. Auch in der Geschichte einer Glaubensgemeinschaft sind manche Epochen und Bewegungen aufs engste verbunden mit dem Leben und Wirken fiihrender Manner. In der Geschichte des RuBland-Mennonitentwns ist die stiirmische Zeitperiode nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg eine Periode nie"'